We know these Canadians, an earlier outing getting the Golembeski seal of approval some time back, for last album, ‘Dear Sienna‘, in 2020. Based around a core of Elise Boeur, Adam Iredale-Gray and Màiri Chaimbeul, fiddle, harp and guitar respectively, and who each have thriving solo and/or duo careers, for Aerialists they are emphatically plugged in, with an attendant rhythm section. For this album, that is provided by Robert Alan Mackie, on bass, and the drums of Steven Foster. Plus, for this record, they have an additional special guest, one Brighde Chaimbeul, the small pipes maven herself, the shared surname with big sis, Màire, a giveaway.
With each of the nine tracks labelled as to the type of dance performed; jigs, reels, polskas etc, one might assume this is a serious and scholarly effort, where the ceilidh is controlled and false steps frowned upon. Far from it, I feel, not that I have floor tested any of these, nonetheless pretty confident that their wall of sound is more around a good time than EFDSS awards. Indeed, with the band latterly possessing a taste for introversion, here all such restraints are off.
With first track, ‘Father Swan Story’, an Estonian tune paired with a French bourée, the expectation may be for pastoral rusticism, but, instead, the band leap out the traps on a flourishing tinkle of Chaimbeul’s harp, full octane from the start. Guitars chords crash under Boeur’s fiddle, Foster and Mackie each giving it some. Harp and fiddle vie for pole position, swapping and sharing. It’s much more than expectation would offer and all quite exciting. After a brief proggy interlude, the harp and fiddle bounce off to the bourée, and a sudden stop, the whole maybe more in tune to those for whom Bourée is a Jethro Tull track, rather than a French bal manoeuvre.
Over slow bluesy bass and drums, the title track begins as anything other than the two reels it becomes. But once Boeur locks in, with Chaimbeul in close pursuit, it becomes a grand old example of folk-rock. Iredale-Gray, who at first ear seems mainly a man for powerchords, chucks in some little wriggles of jazzy picking, that becomes progressively more rock school. A slightly confounding melange, it can take a listen or two to catch quite all the nuances.
‘Festivalpolskas’ does what it says on the tin, and here the rockist aspect is dialled back a bit, to allow the framework of the tunes to not become swamped. It is clear Boeur is a capable and competent player. The bass work of Mackie stands out here, upright for this one, and very Modern Jazz Quartet. This is a good track. As is ‘Gammel-Steinomen’, which the band describe as adding a sludgy weight to the Norwegian springleik dance. This, I presume is the asymmetric trip-hop drum beat, which is a neat touch, for the jangly psychedelia that then unfolds. Uncertain where harp and electric guitar meet, and separate, this goes everywhere but expected. Chaimbeul is also adding atmospheric background organ and synthesiser bass for this one.
‘The Birds’ meets across the Irish sea, being an Irish hornpipe and a Scots Gaelic lament. Chaimbeul takes the front for the first, over some acoustic guitar, before the more propulsive second half, where it is now the rhythm section cemented alongside her, the soloing baton duly passed to Boeur. We then get the glorious additional sound of the second Chaimbeul and her pipes. Call me a sucker for pipes, and I am, this moment makes the track and lifts the album.
This is followed by what may be the hands in the air solicitation to clap, as ‘Memories of Anascaul’ bleeps into life, a single repeated bass note then ushering in an echoed crash of drums, and some guitar, subject to the same echo and a no small touch of distort. This makes for an odd backdrop to the harp melody, but, against the odds, it sort of works. A selection of tunes, it cavorts chaotically, from one lead instrument to the other. At times I love this track, at others finding it all too reductive. Ear of the beholder and mood, I guess.
‘All Covered With Moss’ is probably less divisive, being a medley of jigs and slip-jigs. With just harp and fiddle, neither have to fight to be heard, and the rhythm section, as they arrive, are more aware of their role as support and not focus. This becomes a positive credit to them, as the tempo escalates, and, as Foster bounds all over his kit, it works well. Likewise, for ‘The Bodach and the Lads,’ the mix between traditional and some of the more post-rock and proto-prog aspirations of the band slot better together. Quite a complex piece, it shows possibly where and what they are striving for. The ripples of harp are terrific, not least while the fiddle flies and guitar chugs.
Lively ends as lively starts, the album closes with a trio of reels, collectively ‘The Shoemaker’s Daughter Set’. Against type, this is an orthodox, a bit of electric folk as one could want, all five players working as one for an engaging final near six minutes. In fact, all things considered, perhaps the best track here, with the best join between the contrasting factions of folk and post-folk.
This is a contrary and contradictory record: when it’s good it’s great, but it isn’t great throughout. I like the ideas and the enthusiasm, less the experimentalism, which can jar against the source material. Worth keeping, but maybe a work in progress.
Seuras Og
Artist’s website: www.aerialistsmusic.com
‘Gammel-Steinomen’ – official video:
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